


Devil Side

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically A Great Big KOTOR II Homage, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Eldritch Abomination Kylo Ren, Fusion of Star Wars Legends and Disney Canon, Knights of the Old Republic vibes, Kylo Ren & Ben Solo are Different People, M/M, Manipulation, Mass Murder, Past Child Abandonment, Past Child Abuse, Planet Destruction, Slow Burn Darkpilot, The Jedi Exile Mentors Ben, by Ren of Rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:29:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: After the Temple was destroyed by a Dark Side storm, Ben Solo cut himself off from the Force just to survive and ran away. Six years later, a mysterious humanoid abomination calling himself Kylo Ren is wreaking havoc on the galaxy along with the rest of the First Order, and Ben has to reenter the fight — regaining his connection to the Force in the process.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue: Annihilation

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Title from “Devil Side” by Foxes. Obviously, the Devil doesn’t exist in Star Wars, and Foxes’ song is about something else entirely, but I thought the title was appropriate at least.

It was as Poe had slipped the last piece of the map to Luke Skywalker in the pocket of his jacket that BB-8 rolled in in that moment, and started beeping frantically. Beeping, and judging from how shrill his beeps were, BB-8 actually sounded panicked. 

”The _Finalizer_ ’s here,” Poe said to Tekka. Even as he spoke, he swore he felt a shiver go down his spine. He knew what it meant. It wasn’t often that Snoke sent Kylo out on missions. But when he did, Kylo was all but destructive. Devouring entire planets, leaving them all but drained of life, of the Force. “You have to go. Quickly.”

”You have to leave. I’ll catch up with you,” Tekka said. 

Poe nodded, then ran. 

He ran, and ran forever. Even as he ran, he could swear that people were screaming in agony even as they dropped dead, drained of color. Poe felt sick even as he ran, but what could he do? 

_Coward_ , he thought even as he clambered into his X-wing, fishing BB-8 into his seat as well. _Coward, coward...you could have saved them, even if it was like fighting a hurricane_. 

He took a deep breath, before blasting off. Tekka...stars, he hoped Tekka could at least make it off the planet before it was completely destroyed. 

***

It was on the planet of Tatooine that Ben Solo felt something. Something horrible, and familiar — like voices were screaming in terror before suddenly being silenced. Too many voices, too loud. And Poe was there. 

_No, no..._ Poe couldn’t possibly be on that planet that was being destroyed. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t simply die like that — was that why the Force was tormenting him so, coming back just to make him listen to Poe die?

It couldn’t be that way. It simply couldn’t. He had to go there. Had to get off the planet of Tatooine; he’d been there for, what, six years? Six years was long enough.

He had to go. Go to Jakku — yes, that was where the disturbance was coming from — and save Poe. Even if it meant putting himself in danger from Voe, Tai and Hennix. (Were they still around? Ben heard that the Jedi were being hunted to the point of extinction. He could imagine that Voe, Tai and Hennix were the rallying points for the Resistance)

"If there was ever a time you had to leave, it was now.”

A woman’s voice, faintly Nubian sounding. Even as Ben turned around, he saw a woman with gray-streaked brown hair, bound back in a high ponytail.

”You’re Arawn Sinn,” Ben said. “You’re the Exile.”

”I am,” Arawn said. “I was once like you are now, Ben...a year younger when I regained my connection to the Force. Your journey will be different, but the goals of regaining and healing — they are very much the same.”

”Is Poe all right?” Ben said. 

”He lives,” Arawn said. "He left Jakku a long time ago. He’s gone to the Resistance Base.”

Ben took a long, shaky breath. “I can’t face my mother,” he said. “Not after what I’ve done. What I couldn’t do. She would hate me...”

”If she’s a good mother like she claims to be, she won’t,” Arawn said. “She’ll forgive you. Ben...you can’f run from your past forever.”

”How will I face her?” Ben said. 

Arawn said, “I’ll help you. As I will help you throughout your training to regain what you lost. As Kreia once showed me the way, I will show you.”

Ben bit his lip. “Didn’t Kreia manipulate you?”

”She was far from perfect,” Arawn said. "But she taught me much. She taught me not only about the Force, but how to be strong without it. How to live, not just survive. And she wasn’t incapable of caring for others.” A beat. “She found her peace at Malachor V, in a way.”

”If you say so,” Ben said. Then, “You’ll help me?”

”Always,” Arawn said. “Now go. Poe is waiting for you.”

Ben walked out of his hut towards the Mos Eisley spaceport. It was odd, having this woman at his shoulder instead of Snoke’s voice, but he supposed that it was better. All this...all of it was painful, terrifying, but he had to keep moving forward, keep going, no matter what it took.

***

Arawn Sinn, former Jedi Exile, watched even as Ben Solo headed to the Mos Eisley spaceport. She couldn’t do much to interfere; Force ghosts had their limitations, but she could guide Ben. Show him the way, as Luke Skywalker had failed to do. 

It wasn’t completely his fault. It was Sidious; Sidious had poisoned Luke’s mind, twisted it into him trying to kill his own nephew. But Luke had set a terrible series of events into motion, including the creation of Kylo Ren, who had destroyed Jakku as before him, Darth Nihilus had destroyed Katarr. 

”There is a great echo in the Force.”

Arawn turned around to see Visas Marr. Three years younger than her, Visas had been the last survivor of the genocide of Katarr. Visas liked to say that she chose to “serve” Arawn because Arawn had shown her how to live, not simply survive, but Arawn didn’t see Visas as serving her. Visas was her friend, no more, no less.

”I know, Visas.” Arawn said. “It’s unfair that he has to go through what I did.”

”He is not the only one. The Jakku scavenger, the princess of the Sith...they have found her too. Harvested her. And they will break her as Nihilus did me.”

Arawn swallowed. “In a way, I created Nihilus,” she said. 

“Nihilus was a tortured monster. You, however...I look at you and see a woman who saved me, in more ways than one. A woman who could have killed me, but did not.” A beat. “You gave us gifts, Arawn. Don’t act as if you didn’t.”

”Hey.” Atton. An old man when he’d passed on, long divorced from his past as a Sith operative for Revan, he squeezed Arawn’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself for that creature. And Ben...he’ll be okay. You were, Arawn. We were. The best we can do is assist when we can.” A sigh. “The scavenger. I hope we can save her. She doesn’t deserve what those monsters are going to do to her.”

Arawn nodded. It would be a hard road. But whatever happened, she would show Ben the way — as Kreia, once upon a time, showed her the way. 


	2. The Survivor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren finds Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was heading down to the planet that Ren (simply Ren) was reminded of how much he despised Jakku. 

The planet was drained, completely drained. Of color, of the Force, of everything — or so he thought. He remembered coming here and finding Ushar, a scavenger there at the time, struggling to figure out where his next meal was coming from. 

As a former street urchin himself, Ren found it struck more of a nerve with him than he thought. He hadn’t killed Ushar’s schutta of a junk boss, but he had definitely given enough of a demonstration...

It was in the ruins of an old, broken down AT-ST that Ren realized that there was one survivor. A young girl, starved-looking and wrapped in scavenger clothes — Ren was able to recognize it from when he’d first found Ushar on Jakku. 

She hissed and screamed, swinging her staff at him. Good thing for him that lightsabers could cut through wood. And it was standing there, where her staff lay cloven in two, that Ren said, “Your parents are dead, kid, but your grandfather's alive and wants to see you.”

The woman looked taken aback — hopeful, and yet afraid. Then, “If you betray me,” and even her voice bore a similar accent to the Emperor’s back when he was a Chancellor, “I won’t hesitate to fight you.”

”I figured that,” Ren said. 

***

Her name was Rey, just Rey, and it was sitting in the main hold of the _Night Buzzard,_ Rey still seeming uneasy at the sight of Kylo (the masked figure who’d devoured her home planet) that Ren explained more to her. 

Ren sighed. “We’re not like Nihilus. Well, not quite. That...thing, if you can call him that, was just a loose turbolaser. Smart enough to get a ship running, but definitely a loose turbolaser. You could say we’re more focused.”

”On what?" Rey said. She looked critical, but curious. That was good, at least. She was listening. 

”The Knights are an offshoot of the Dark Side," Ren said. “While not being Sith...proper. None of this Darth nonsense. And following the _ren_...”

It was a speech he had made to people like Karst. About not following him, but the idea. He was just a symbol, in the end. A symbol for what the Dark Side could be. 

Rey looked skeptical. “You’re worshipping a lightsaber,” she said. 

”Harsh," Ren said. “And not really true. This thing’s just a symbol as well. The lightsaber’s a metaphor. Even the name _ren_ doesn’t just mean ‘lightsaber', but ‘will’. Of the Shadow.” A beat. “Trust me, cub — the Brilliance didn’t do anything for you. When you were starving, where was it? Meanwhile...well, to put it this way, you know how we got the _Night Buzzard_?”

”You stole it,” Rey said. “Didn’t you?”

”Exactly. It used to be a prison ship. The guards...well, they had a bit of a mean streak. Ushar made sure that the guards suffered every bit of pain they inflicted on their prisoners. And we repurposed it.” A beat. “Following the _ren_ is just whatever the Shadow wants. Whatever you want, including protecting the weak.”

”You...saved them?” Rey said. 

A shrug from Ren. “You could say we’re legendary. Conquerors, raiders...occasionally protectors of the weak and oppressed. Not like the Jedi would do it, anyway. About Ushar...he was a scavenger, cub. Just like you. He’d know it first hand.”

"So stuff like...what happened to me has been going on for a while.”

”Since before you were born,” Ren said. "And the Republic’s been as useful as screen doors on a submersible. They didn’t set up schools on Jakku, host relief efforts...granted, the Republic being useless is nothing new, but still. After all, cub — should we only help those who don’t have any problems?”

Rey looked like she was taken aback. Then, “You’re not a scavenger. But you’ve been here before.”

”Yeah. The Brilliance never helped me. I helped myself.” 

(Corellia. Stars, Ren hadn’t been back there in years, though his way of talking occasionally slipped out)

”And you, cub...the Brilliance didn’t help you out either, did it? All those years on Jakku...how old are you, kid?”

”Nearly twenty,” Rey said. “I was left on Jakku when I was five.”

”Karabast, you’re basically a baby compared to me.” A beat. “I’m old, cub. So’s Ushar, and pretty much everyone in the Knights.”

”I suppose,” Rey said. Then, “Why does it matter?”

”Because that Plutt schutta all but wiped out your chances of a normal childhood, and so did your own parents.”

Rey looked flustered. “It’s not like that — my parents...they were strong; they were trying to protect me from my grandfather...”

"Stellar on their part,” Ren said sarcastically. 

"They loved me. They had to...”

Her voice cracked, and Ren swore she was suppressing a sob. Unexpectedly, Ren felt his heart ache. It reminded him of the boy Ushar had been. The cub would get angry in time. You got angry or you collapsed. 

”Don’t blame yourself, cub,” Ren said, softer. He wasn’t the Emperor. He didn’t just take pleasure in people’s pain; he saw himself as more of a teacher than anything else. “Jakku’s gone. Everything has its time, and Kylo...well, you can’t blame a predator for needing to feed. But you still have a lot of potential. Usually, the Knights don’t train, but your granddad wanted you to be trained.”

It would be abusive, Ren knew. Palpatine hadn’t been nice to Maul and Savage Oppress, or Dooku, or Grievous, or Vader, or Trias. He wouldn’t be nice to his own granddaughter either. The Sith learned through agony, so why did Ren feel at least a twinge of unease sending this sweet, trusting (if able to pack a mean blow with her stick) young woman into the krayt dragon’s jaws?

”Will he like me?” Rey said. 

”Your grandfather doesn’t just like people, but he’ll be impressed with you, that’s for sure. And I know I already like you...and think you deserve so much more than this.”

Apparently, Ren was about to get attached to this unexpectedly sweet young woman. He supposed that wasn’t new; he saw just about everyone as a potential friend, but Rey...he could see her as at least a daughter of sorts. He’d never had a daughter before. Maybe that could change. 

Rey smiled faintly. “Yes,” she said. “There is you.”

***

“The other Knights don’t have lightsabers.”

Rey said that, after practice — at least, showing what she could do. Ren had to say he was impressed — then again, should he have expected anything less from Trias Palpatine’s kid?

(He definitely didn’t expect her to be so sweet-natured)

”Good call, cub,” Ren said. “You could say it’s...symbolic. I’m the leader of this ragtag band of misfits, and they follow the symbol, not the man. The mask serves the same purpose. They don’t follow me as much as the ren.”

”There’s more,” Rey said. 

So she was perceptive too. Great. “I don’t just talk about myself to anyone.”

”I can see snippets. You were a scumrat, weren’t you?”

”That’s a bit personal, cub.” He supposed he’d have to teach her to refine her telepathic abilities. 

Rey walked forward. “You’re like me,” she said softly. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

She meant it too. 

”It was a long time ago," Ren said. “It wasn’t how I got burned — that was a different incident.”

”Have you considered healing them?” Rey said. 

”I would, but the scars and burns are a symbol too. That I survived. I was struck down again and again and I lived. Very Sion-esque.” A beat. “He had a cult based around him. Mostly thanks to his regenerative abilities. I learned from them.”

”I see,” Rey said. “But being a scumrat once means you survived too.”

”Yes.” 

Ren couldn’t believe that this girl was seeing things in him he didn’t know existed, but apparently today was full of surprises. 


End file.
